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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23081839">i confess my sins</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/warmachineran/pseuds/warmachineran'>warmachineran</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>TWICE (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:01:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23081839</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/warmachineran/pseuds/warmachineran</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when a shapeshifter, a princess, a dragon, and a thief meet at a bar?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hirai Momo/Im Nayeon/Minatozaki Sana/Myoui Mina, Hirai Momo/Myoui Mina, Im Nayeon/Minatozaki Sana</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>114</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At the edge of the world, there lies a paradise — sealed and cut off from the world. In the middle of it stands a lone cabin, roots and gnarled branches wrapping around it, vines and leaves and wild flowers on its roof, on its walls. A small home, a guard post.</p><p>At the edge of the world, a lone Guardian lives. Her name is Momo.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Hundreds of years ago, mythical creatures freely roamed the lands, the fields and rivers and mountains were their homes. Men called it Age of the Gods.</p><p>Today, though, stories of such creatures exist only to frighten and delight children. Reduced to myths, legends, and bed-time stories to the common folk. Save for one princess of a certain kingdom. Her name is Sana.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>There was a time too, when huge, winged creatures soared the skies, Dragon's Age they called it. Mighty and immortal, proud and arrogant. Greedy. They, too, were considered Guardians of the Earth. Millennium old and weary, they have succumbed to deep slumber under the mountains, deep in the seas. Except for one, kept up with its want to protect its treasures, a thief, and a princess. Her name is Mina.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>The world of Man is unforgiving and cruel, though at peace. Especially to an orphaned girl. Short limbs and stick-thin, she grows up to be a mercenary, just like the man who took her in. A sell-sword, a thief. Her name is Nayeon.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>What happens when a shapeshifter, a princess, a dragon, and a thief meet at a bar?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Fae-kissed thief</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>What's up with Nayeon?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>All through her life, Nayeon only knew about two things:</p><p>One, the best solution to every problem is running: you won't have a problem when the problem can't chase you.</p><p>So she does, she runs and runs, through the bustling night market, stolen trinkets and jewelry in her pockets and satchel. Apologies at the tip of her tongue as she shoves people from her path, focused on getting away and gaining distance from the palace guards.</p><p>A wrong turn leads her to a narrow alley, a flickering lamp post show her that it's a dead end. Panic clouds her judgment, so does regret and hopelessness. A single voice echoes inside her brain, it yells: 'not today.' It breaks through the haze, and like a man breaking through water, Nayeon breathes in gulps of air, ready to get herself out of this situation.</p><p>Ironic, when at the next second, she's hit by the hilt of a sword and blacks out.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Nayeon wakes up from the unforgiving sunlight directly shining at her face. She groans, muscles aching from the events of last night and from the cold stone slab that made up her bed.</p><p>She surveys her surroundings and concludes that she got arrested, currently held in a prison cell. She stands up and stretches her sore muscles, noting that her weapons and supplies were thrown haphazardly in a corner of the room. She clicks her tongue and grumbles about how she worked hard saving her silver coins to pay off that expensive sword set only for it to be lying on the dirty floors of this dungeon. And then she starts picking the lock.</p><p>No more than half an hour passed and Nayeon's out of the terribly guarded dungeon, her sword set secured on her belts, satchel slung on her back. She's been watching palace servants going in and out of what looks like a back door when-</p><p>"Where do you think you're going, thief?" a very unkind and gruff voice interrupts her.</p><p>And yeah, Nayeon thinks, running may be the best solution to her problems, but it doesn't mean she can always outrun them. No matter how hard she pumps her legs. The calloused hand gripping her arm and dragging her in front of the raised throne is a testament to that.</p><p>The King has started droning on and on about how his mighty kingdom will never be robbed and humiliated by a common thief. Nayeon did not, and never will, regret her decisions about stealing out of a black and white moral compass that this King is spouting, but she is considering if it was worth it. Just so she could spare herself of this lengthy speech about honest work.</p><p>She was about to doze off while standing when the King finished, only for him to give her a deal: steal a gem from an abandoned fortress built at the side of the Northern Mountain.</p><p>Nayeon easily agrees just to make him stop talking. The contract was then drafted, signed by both parties. By the next morning, she was off her merry way, well-fed and supplies restocked. She was even given a horse.</p><p>She was feeding her horse when she stopped and exclaimed, "What the fuck just happened and what the hell did I agree on?!" to which her horse snorted.</p><p>Her step-father was probably rolling in his grave, pulling his hairs out of frustration at her stupidity for being swept off and cajoled into doing a fool's quest.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>That was a month ago.</p><p>...or was it?</p><p>It was a long time since she set foot in a kingdom's capital after the disaster of what was supposed to be a simple stealing of palace jewels. The people around her have been parting to give her a wide berth as if she has the plague. Nayeon thinks that maybe she just smell, as it has been a few days ago since she took a bath in the forest.</p><p>It took her a while to really take in her surroundings,  and it took her much longer to realize why the people around her were looking at her weirdly. It's because she, for lack of a better word, looks outdated. Her clothes, even before it, were already worn and washed out; but now it looks like the better days it had seen was so long ago.</p><p>This has happened a few times before, but this extreme instance only happened once, when Marcus took his last breath, the closest to a father figure she will ever have.</p><p>It wasn't really that bad, she had Marcus to snap her awake, pull her to the present. Sometimes, Nayeon gets lost. In her head or in her surroundings. And most of the time, inside both great and small forests. She doesn't understand why because she never really questioned it, has accepted that she just <em>does</em>.</p><p>When Marcus died, she buried him at the edge of the Reflecting Woods. She thought it was a good idea, for Marcus' final resting place to be in a place so close to the forests and the woods they both loved. It was winter that time, and it was cold. The trees were beckoning her to enter the forest, the wind was gently pushing her towards it. She took a last glance to the unmarked grave of the man who took a dirty orphan in, raised her as his own, taught her the ways of a mercenary. She could feel her heart breaking, at the thought of being alone again.</p><p>Then, Nayeon took the step towards the comforting embrace of the forest.</p><p>When she emerged from the other side of the Reflecting Woods, it was still winter. She felt refreshed and calm, and stupid. Stupidly reckless when she saw a kingdom sprawling outside the forest and thought to herself that it would be a good idea to rob the palace. She spent a few days in the capital, learning what she needed to pull off the heist, when she learned that four years had passed. It was a revelation that slipped her mind soon after, it was not as important as her sudden urge to steal shiny trinkets.</p><p>It was later confirmed that she has indeed spent the last three years inside a forest. Again.</p><p>It doesn't really bother her, nor does she think that she had gotten lost. The forests and woods, the rivers and lakes, the trees and flowers, the animals and birds. They all make her happy, calm, content.</p><p>A curse, the people would call it. Cursed and poisoned by the Fair Folk they would scream, chasing her out of towns with torches and pitchforks.</p><p>A miracle, Marcus called it. He told her that she was kissed by the Lady of the Fair Folk, blessed to be connected with them. Nayeon believed him. Why would it be a curse when nature is such a beautiful sight?</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>After stocking on supplies and renting a room, Nayeon had to decide on what to do next. She could live in the Colossal Trees, the forest where Marcus found her in. Or she could try to see what the precious jewel in the Northern Mountain is, and then steal it for herself. But for now, Nayeon goes down in the tavern to get a drink.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. A hoarder, a calamity, the King of Despair</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Is today Mina's last day of quiet and peace?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mina is rarely asleep these days, a very uncommon thing for dragons in this Age of Men. She's agitated, and though she can't pinpoint what it is, it's keeping her awake. It's an anticipation for something that she cannot name yet. Mina can feel it in her bones. Something has been set into motion and she's right smack in the middle of it.</p><p> </p><p></p><div>
  <p>She wanders and walks throughout her palace, from one edge to the next, one great hall to another, day in and out. She knows that what she's doing is unnecessary, that even though she and her kin have evolved into myths and legends, no greed nor foolish bravery would ever be enough for Men to venture inside her Mountain. Stories of the King of Despair and the Dragon Sickness are enough to ward them off, and if those weren't enough, the locals of the City below would do the job.</p>
  <p>Still though, Mina, in her human form, stands watch. A dragon can never be too careful with regards to their treasures and territory.</p>
  <p>Some days, Mina would be in her dragon form, with her wings spread, she flies inside the palace; she does it with great difficulty and most often than not, bumps her head and body with the ceilings, columns, and walls. She calls this a necessary ridiculousness: blowing off the dust that has accumulated. Dragons, with all their wisdom and lifetimes of experience, are easily bored.</p>
  <p>At nights when the moon and stars are hiding behind thick, dark clouds, Mina soars through the skies. She misses it, misses her kin who had left her behind– who, with her, once held dominion over the world, flying across the skies, guiding and guarding the creatures breathing the same air as them. A loneliness that eats her away, hundreds of years of regret, of asking herself if staying behind was worth it. But then she would dip under the clouds, looking at the Kingdoms and Cities of Men spanning across the lands. The doubts recede, and Mina's heart settles.</p>
  <p>The elder dragons did tell her that the love she holds for humanity would be her undoing.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>The King of Despair is a cruel and despicable man. Prideful, arrogant, greedy. As most Kings usually were. But this King of the Northern Mountain is much, much worse. With his armies and beasts, he waged war across the lands. He slew hundreds and thousands of men, women, and children. And all for a single purpose: to acquire all the gold and wealth the world could offer.</p>
  <p>He was successful. He raided towns, ransacked villages, pillaged capitals, crippled kingdoms. The King of Despair was a hound on the loose and those who stood against him were no more than pieces of paper in front of his might. The people cowered before him, whispered about the Dragon Witch orchestrating all of these atrocities, about the Dragon Sickness she brought to the Northern Mountain and its people.</p>
  <p>The King and his Dragon Witch reigned over half of the world for years, until the day Men united in one banner and marched against them. The Gold War, after a decade, came to an end when a once nameless foot soldier was found in the throne room, bloody and wounded, the head of the King of Despair rolling on the floor, and the Dragon Witch on her knees clutching his waist.</p>
  <p>With the enemy defeated, the foot soldier was named King. He lived a long, prosperous life; and with him, the world learned peace and harmony.</p>
  <p>The Dragon Witch was no longer seen but rumors of her spread far and wide, circulated the taverns and marketplaces. They say, "the Dragon Witch lives, for she remains deep within the Northern Mountain, nursing her broken heart, waiting for the King of Despair to return."</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Mina doesn't mind, being painted as the puppet master, as the Dragon Witch who seduced and poisoned the heart of the Northern King. The stories were true, albeit missing the important pieces. And the people were right: for hundreds of years, she's still nursing her broken heart. The heart that aches and cries over the fate of the man with the kindest smile and heart, the man who trusted her and helped her bring the rotten world to its knees.</p>
  <p>Only she, the Northern King, the foot soldier, and the City below know the layers of truth behind the King of Despair's campaign and the Gold War.</p>
  <p>Mina was snapped out of her reverie at the sound of scuffling feet and high pitched giggles. And if those weren't picked up by her dragon hearing, then the reverberating sound of clinking coins falling over themselves, echoing across the palace was a smack to the face that a little human actually dared to enter her mountain.</p>
  <p>A resounding, "Oh, shit." was heard when the intruder saw Mina. Perched in one of the great columns lining the main hall, claws grasping the stone, tail swishing behind her, sharp toothy grin plastered on her face, and golden brown eyes twinkling under the glow of the setting sun.</p>
  <p><em>'Oh, shit indeed,'</em> Mina thinks, when the pink-haired woman faints and she's left feeling silly about how she decided to welcome the human who found their way inside her mountain.</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The mightiest of them all, the one true King</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Who is Momo?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>To say that Momo was lonely in her island would be the greatest understatement of the millennium. Especially when she grew up surrounded by many children in the orphanage and died surrounded by her family and people.</p><p> </p><p></p><div>
  <p>At times like this, when Momo was lying down in the grass fields staring at the unchanging and blue sky above her, Momo's mind wanders. She thinks about her life in the orphanage and the streets, learning the way of the sword, joining the army, the war against the Northern King, the Dragon Witch, being named King. And when she lets her guard down, she remembers the warmth of a woman not her Queen.</p>
  <p>The Wizard called this island a paradise, a reward for those worthy of the world's exaltation. And at first, Momo believed them. On this island at the edge of the world, Momo relearned peace and quiet. After centuries though, what once was a reward seems like a punishment.</p>
  <p>A punishment for her sins. For being a complicit to the King of Despair's campaign. For being the instrument of success for the Dragon Witch's plan.</p>
  <p>Deep within her heart, Momo knows that the Wizard did not trick her. But even being the best of humanity, a millennium-long solitude in this perfect island brings out the worst in her. Her fears, doubts, insecurities.</p>
  <p>At the end of the day, when one is to cut her open and bare her to the world, she is still the orphan in love with an immortal, the orphan who did everything the immortal asked of her. Even pretending to be the mighty King she knows she is not.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Momo was invited to this island by the Gods, in reward for uniting the world and bringing harmony and peace in the Age of Men. It is the last place where mythical beings exist, the last connection of humanity to the world of the Gods. As such, it comes with a strict rule: non-humans are the only creatures allowed to wash up on its shores and stay. Momo was blessed to be a shape-shifter, no longer human.</p>
  <p>This invitation came with a price, though, for the Gods loved Momo too much to let her go; what was supposed to be a few years in the island to heal, be at peace, and then to move on, they gave her another duty. Be a Guardian, They said. And so, Momo, the One King of the World became Momo, the shape-shifter Guardian.</p>
  <p>Even though she acquired the title Guardian, all Momo really did was talk to the animals and trees. The world is still in a state of peace, even if the One King died a long time ago. This is the only balm that soothes her. That even if they lied to the whole world, it was worth it.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>When Momo was alive, all she knew were the dirty streets, the filthy smell of narrow alleys, the callous hands that shove her away, and the unforgiving, constant presence of her hunger.</p>
  <p>She was born in a world where the effects of the sudden disappearance of elves and dragons were starting to be felt. Like headless chickens running around, the humans did not know how to react to their sudden independence. Without the light of the elves, the wisdom of the dragons, their guidance, humanity started to take, and take, and take. Kings grew greedy and paranoid. They took from nature to keep their forges running. They took from their fellow humans to fortify their defenses. Walls grew thick and high. And the common people all paid for it.</p>
  <p>It was a cold night, Momo remembers, when the benefactor of the orphanage visited. She brought food that would last them months, new clothes and thick blankets to combat the weather, and apologies for not visiting sooner. The benefactor was a beautiful woman with golden brown eyes and with the smile directed to her, Momo's heart was caught.</p>
  <p>Momo was 16 when the benefactor visited again. The world, then, stinks of deep-rooted fear and helplessness. Hope has long been lost against the growing might of the King of Despair. Momo, the kids and staff in the orphanage, have given up. The benefactor would not, and did not have it, though. With her unwavering voice she rallied them into joining the cause against the King, if they were so sure to die, then why not die fighting for their future? She told them, standing up against him does not necessarily mean they have to fight, that deep down, all they need is to hope and help, to not give up. And so, Momo took up the sword.</p>
  <p>For years, she did not see the benefactor again.</p>
  <p>That is, until the day she reached the throne room, and her benefactor is standing beside the King of Despair. Still as beautiful, but more ethereal and weary.</p>
  <p>Her benefactor, no, the Dragon Witch, looks surprised to see her. But the surprise soon morphs into a sad smile. She waves off the King who was unsheathing his sword.</p>
  <p>"She's the one."</p>
  <p>Momo has never felt heartbreak, nor betrayal before that moment, but ultimately, all she wanted to do was sit down and cry. She's tired and wounded, she saw many of her comrades fall in battle. She watched the enemy's soldiers die with a smile on their faces. Now, she's seeing the woman who had a tight grip on her heart walking towards her, in the enemy's stronghold. Nothing makes sense.</p>
  <p>"I'm so, so sorry," the Dragon Witch says, crouching down because Momo has slumped down on the floor, to cup her face and wipe her tears, "I'll explain now, please, believe me, I did not mean for you to carry this weight. But I ask this of you, still."</p>
  <p>This woman, who owns the orphanage that fed her and clothed her, gave her a roof to live under, smiled for her when no one will, inspired hope for her when it was lost; is also the woman behind the war that ravaged this rotten world. Momo was torn. Logic and loyalty to the cause tells her to plunge her sword in her benefactor's gut. Love tells her to listen and submit.</p>
  <p>Momo has never been praised to make the logical decision.</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. God is a woman</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hi, her name is Sana.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mina has been watching the intruder for hours, without seeing any signs of consciousness, and it's making her worry. She doesn't remember humans being this fragile — but then again, her only source of reference were two Kings who laid down everything and levelled the world for her.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>The dragon has been keeping herself entertained by exhaling air directly on the sleeping woman, as it makes her pink hair flap like a bird's wings; when the human splutters awake and makes eye contact with Mina — in her dragon form, laying her dragon head on her forearms, scales glinting under the torches' lights.</p>
  <p>And then, the woman screams bloody murder, which Mina already expected; what she didn't expect though, was for the woman's brown eyes to glow a golden light and her pupil to become an ominous blood red. Like the gods' — when they still roamed the Earth and ravaged lands, waged war and death amongst themselves to see who was the strongest and most deserving to lead them all.</p>
  <p>Mina's hackles rise and dragon fire burns in her throat. For the very first time in her long, long life, pure, unadulterated fear courses through her veins and her instinct screams at her to run, fly, far away and never come back. But the god's stare pierces through her soul, her wings grow heavy, and her limbs feel glued to the floor.</p>
  <p><em>'This is it,'</em> Mina thinks, <em>'this is karma, my punishment.'</em> She closes her eyes and her body relaxes; warmth envelopes her, and a soft palm caressing her maw. She shrinks to her human form, her face cupped by the pink-haired god and Mina — Mina openly sobs. Warmth and relief wash over her. And the woman shushes her, lets her burrow her face to her neck. Whispers words of comfort in her ear, of appreciation and forgiveness:</p>
  <p>"Thank you, for everything."</p>
  <p>"It's okay."</p>
  <p>"You did well."</p>
  <p>"I'm here, now."</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>An extremely long time ago, the world was nothing but a desolate land — when the forests and lakes were unforgiving and dangerous. The world was made for the strong. And the strongest of them all were called gods. They were born with talents and skills, blessed by the powers of nature.</p>
  <p>In a world where only the strong survives, it was not long before the gods started fighting. At first, they started to fight for food and hunting grounds, for territories, then for nothing but to see who was the strongest. In terms of strength, the god who enslaved fire reigned supreme.</p>
  <p>As the world rests on the Fire God's palms, she too, was held at the mercy of her lover.</p>
  <p>See, the Fire God didn't care much for who the strongest was — she's content with her life: a small hut she shares with her lover, a minor earth god. But such wishful thinking on her part is arrogance, too; thinking that the other gods would not bother them if they don’t join the fighting.</p>
  <p>The Fire God comes home to a burned down hut, her lover sprawled on the dirt, choking on her blood.</p>
  <p>She hurries to her, cradling her broken body on her lap. "My love," the Earth God croaks, "it seems like my time is up."</p>
  <p>"I'm sorry—"</p>
  <p>"Sana, my sweet, we'll meet again, won't we?"</p>
  <p>Sana chuckles wetly, her vision blurring, because this woman is on her death bed and yet she stills asks the impossible from her. And what was she going to do, say no? Who was she to deny this woman of anything when this minor earth god, with her bunny-toothed heart-shaped smiles, marched and conquered her heart and built herself a home in it?</p>
  <p>If Sana's love flits between a gentle fire providing warmth and a raging all-consuming forest fire; then her lover's was an earthquake — unpredictable and devastating when shown, it destroys reason and it makes Sana do everything to make her happy. Because her lover deserves nothing but the best, and the best Sana will be.</p>
  <p>"Of course, my love. I shall wait, no matter how long it takes. For you to walk the earth again, breathe the same air as I do. And I will find you and I will love you more than I ever did in this lifetime."</p>
  <p>"You really will do that for me?"</p>
  <p>"That, and more. I promise this to you, Nayeon."</p>
  <p>Nayeon laughs, then coughs up blood; Sana's heart aches and the fire in her veins are raging against her withering control — she wants to burn the world.</p>
  <p>"My heart feels at ease, knowing I can look forward to the day I can meet you again," with the last burst of strength in her body, Nayeon takes a fistful of Sana's tunic, bringing her down for a last, lingering kiss that tastes of blood and tears.</p>
  <p>"Now, let me rest and make those water gods pay for burning our house, darling."</p>
  <p>Sana burns the world anew.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>The dragon unwittingly unlocked Sana's memories as the Fire God and her stint as a collective conscious of Gods. Living as a bastard princess of different kings for almost a millennium was starting to bore her, and maybe putting a lock to her memories was not one of Sana's best ideas.</p>
  <p>But no matter, she's finally free. And she has a sleeping shifted dragon cuddled up against her.</p>
  <p>Sana wonders if it's time. That maybe, just maybe, in this lifetime Nayeon is alive and awake.</p>
  <p>The thought makes her shiver in anticipation.</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. One. Welcome to Wonderland</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They have a weird foreplay. Hide the kids.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ever since Nayeon could remember, this world has always been messed up. It's beautiful, no one could deny that, but it's also dangerous. Mountains as tall and as far as one could see, oceans as blue as the skies. For an earth god like her, this world — with its lush forests and deep seas — is a gift. The humans are weak and everyone else is stronger.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>Nayeon made herself at home in the Colossal Trees. She fancies herself to be its guardian, which she isn't, really. What, with various animals trying to eat her on a daily basis: there was the large, albino snake last week; a wild boar before that; a grizzly bear the other day; and a tribe of monkeys yesterday. It's fun, though, like an exercise, as nothing in this forest could mortally wound her.</p>
  <p>There's a village of elves here, where Nayeon stays at and trades her hunts with, and it's at this village where she sees <em>her</em> first — crazed eyes and body littered with bruises and burns.</p>
  <p>She was out hunting with some of the elves when there was a burning rock, as they had assumed, free-falling to the forest. When they had arrived at the site, there was no sign of it, only an unconscious pale-skinned woman with dark hair.</p>
  <p>"She's a fire god," Nayeon says.</p>
  <p>"Should we leave her, then?" Keil asks, an elvish teen with blond locks.</p>
  <p>"I don't think so. Best we take her with us. Who knows what this fire god will do, when she wakes up in a middle of a flammable forest?"</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>It was then decided that the fire god will stay with Nayeon until she wakes up, as no one in the village could keep her contained if she proves to be as crazy as fire gods are known to be. And so, Nayeon cares for her, cleans her wounds and washes her up with eyes closed — she really isn't up to see anyone naked except for herself. Even with all of that, she's not about to get kicked out of her own bed; so she carries the unconscious woman on her dinner table. Nayeon reasons out that the woman is still a fire god, injured or not, they are as strong and devastating as a volcano.</p>
  <p>Nayeon wakes up in the middle of the night to someone wiggling (getting comfortable) under her blankets. And comes face to face with the fire god, golden-brown eyes shining with a crazy tint in them. Nayeon yelps and bumps her head on the windowsill above her bed.</p>
  <p>"I'm Sana," the fire god introduces herself; Nayeon is still clutching her head and tries not to bury this woman alive when a soft and warm hand pats her head and pulls her to lay down properly on the bed. She ends up tucked under Sana's chin and falls asleep to the feeling of a ghost kiss on the top of her head.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>When morning came and the fire god was nowhere to be seen in her house, Nayeon thought the events of yesterday were nothing but a fever dream, maybe she got a hold of elven alcohol. But then, after she got ready to start the day and went out of the house, the sight that greeted her was nothing short of chaos.</p>
  <p>There's a couple of what seems like long-bodied dragons with bodies made of fire flying overhead; there's also a fire spirit dancing on top of a child elf's head; there are bursts of beautiful sparks in the sky; and there she is, juggling balls of fire in front of elven children — laughing unabashedly and her eyes crinkling. Then, their eyes meet and Sana, the crazy fire god that dropped out of the sky, smiles this wide and bright and lovely smile that sends Nayeon reeling.</p>
  <p>Nayeon doesn’t realize it yet, but any kind of resistance she might have had against the woman was kaput the moment Sana gave her that smile.</p>
  <p>To top it all off, the adult elves rush in from the forest — spears and swords drawn, arrows nocked on their bows — flanking the fire god from every side. Nayeon would have felt proud, would have even clapped out of sheer amazement, of these forest elves' foolishness, facing off a fire god in the middle of a forest, a place they could light up and burn down, burn everything and every living, breathing thing inhabiting it; if not for a very legitimate worry that the fire god will take this aggression as an offense and kill them all.</p>
  <p>So, she diffuses the situation as best as she could: she bends the earth to her will — makes a hole under the elves' and traps them there, moves the land where the kids are standing far away from the other god, tackles the latter towards the forest and slams her to an old tree.</p>
  <p>Nayeon ends up on top of her and smells soot and smoke on the other girl's skin. It's familiar and Nayeon wonders why.</p>
  <p><em>'Oh, that's right. This girl cuddled me to sleep.'</em> Nayeon is confused why she doesn't feel as scandalized as she should be. A confused Nayeon is petty, and so she looks at the fire god <em>("I'm Sana")</em> underneath her, blames her, and decides that this fight just got a lot more personal than it had any right to be. And based on the excited glint she sees in the girl <em>("I'm Sana"),</em> the smirk that tugs her lips, the other god is just as into it as Nayeon is.</p>
  <p>Before Nayeon could react, she's thrown off to the side and the fire god <em>("I'm Sana")</em> bolts to the sky in a blazing fire under her feet.</p>
  <p>"I've never fought an earth god before," <em>(yeah, I know, okay)</em> Sana says, "I admit I'm way more excited than usual."</p>
  <p>Nayeon digs her feet in the ground to cast it and herself to the sky, levitates slabs of the earth behind her as ammunition, "It's a day for first times, then, as I have never fought a fire god myself."</p>
  <p>Sana grins and if Nayeon's heart jumps at the sight of that, no one can tell, "I still don't know your name, earth god. Do you not have manners? I've already introduced myself."</p>
  <p>Nayeon only answers with a grin of her own then proceeds to hurl the blocks towards Sana; which the latter easily dodges with an infuriating smug coloring her face — an expression that Nayeon quickly mirrors when she controls the blocks mid-air and had them chase the fire god across the sky.</p>
  <p>And if the ensuing giggling laughter coming from Sana made Nayeon smile wider and act reckless by flying closer to her, so she could hear clearer; then the moment the girl suddenly stops to charge through the rocks head-on and smash them with burning firsts, made Nayeon shiver and feel a tingling sensation down to the tips of her toes.</p>
  <p>Sana, with the use of the fire in her feet, rushes forward and abruptly stops in front of Nayeon, hoarsely saying, "my turn," before she locks her fists together and slams the earth god down to the forest with enough force to demolish and uproot a few colossal trees.</p>
  <p>It was, for a while, quiet in the forest — as if two gods weren't just fighting moments before. Nayeon was propped up against an uprooted tree when she sees Sana walking cautiously towards her, strips of fire still dancing on her limbs, looking very much like a confused puppy than a vicious and destructive force of nature.</p>
  <p>Nayeon smiles at her and says, "I think you broke my back, Sana."</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Two. The house that you reside in</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They truly are: That Kind of Couple.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If Nayeon was asked what it was that she loved about Sana, she wouldn't be able to answer — not because there was nothing lovable about the fire god, but because there were just too many. If she did start listing everything she loves about Sana, it would always start with the fire god's warmth. And if Sana heard her, she would pretend to be scandalized, hand over her heart with her face scrunched into mock offense, saying, "so you only love me for my body? That's it, we're finished. I'm going away."</p><p></p><div>
  <p>And while she would make grabby hands toward Sana, whining that she was misunderstanding it, Nayeon would fall in love with her, all over again, deeper, harder. As if Nayeon's very being is a bottomless pit, and it was Sana's mission to fill her up in every way she could.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Once Sana had carried her back to the village and the Chief treated her very real and very broken back, both gods have decided to hunt for food. Nayeon finds Sana's company to be pleasant, despite the stigma that fire gods bring nothing but chaos and destruction. They have opted to take a walk inside the forest, going further where the trees were thicker and older.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>The area was unfamiliar and instead of getting anxious about being lost, Nayeon felt calmer. She didn't think the grass and the leaves could be greener, or that the flowers could be brighter and colorful, or that the water could be so blue and sparkle like diamonds glinting under the sun; but in this place, they are. And well, having a fire god with her also helps calm her nerves. A fire god who has been quietly trailing behind her. The silence wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, though, because even if Sana hasn't spoken much, Nayeon could feel her presence blanketing her and their surroundings — like, it <em>demands</em> to be felt, to be noticed and appreciated. And so, like a dried out sponge, she soaks it all up; Nayeon wonders how it would be like, to have all of Sana's attention focused on her.</p>
  <p>After an hour or so, they arrive in an open field that has a lake at the side. Nayeon was about to look behind and tell the fire god that they could rest here, when she felt a warm hand holding the small of her back and Sana leaning closer. The shadow it casts over her makes her shiver in anticipation.</p>
  <p>"Is it okay?" Sana whispers, voice low and rough, eyes flickering down to her lips.</p>
  <p>Nayeon answers by holding onto Sana's tunic and leans up to kiss her. She can feel the fire god tightening her hold on her back and the next thing she knows, she's laying down on the field, kiss-swollen and panting, with Sana on top of her, kissing her on the lips, on her neck. And it's good, and slow, and perfect — and Nayeon may have wept once or twice.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>It was midafternoon when Nayeon woke up and like that morning, Sana was nowhere near her. It made her panic a little (a lot) that the fire god left her, but such worries flew out of her thoughts when she heard splashing sounds from the lake. And there Sana was, only in her undershirt and rolled up trousers, fishing with her bare hands. Nayeon sits up and sees Sana's tunic folded as her makeshift pillow; she shakes it off, folds it properly on her lap, and watches the fire god until she looks up in her direction and sees her, and waves at her and breaks out into a wide smile.</p>
  <p>They cook the fishes Sana caught using her fire and after resting, Sana carried her and dumped her in the lake. Nayeon chokes out her indignation and bends the ground under the fire god's feet to toss her in the water. She then swims to Sana — wearing only her bindings and undershorts, her clothes folded on the bank — and they spend the rest of the afternoon like that: swimming and playing in the lake, laughing and kissing, hands straying to plush hips and soft curves.</p>
  <p>At sundown, Sana held her by the hips and flew them to the sky; kissed her so soft and asked if they could meet again, tomorrow and the days after. Nayeon could do nothing but kiss her back and whisper against her lips that they could and that she would like it a lot.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>The rest, as they say, is history. Sana courted her openly, visited her, played with the village kids, and before long, they made it official. Nayeon moved out of the village when they finished building the wooden cottage in the clearing they had found. Sana, as Nayeon later learned, is actually a renowned fighter among the gods, and it was the reason they met — Sana had somehow provoked the gods to a free-for-all deathmatch against her.</p>
  <p>The earth god knows better than forbid Sana from going into any more fights; as nothing makes a fire god lose all sense of reason other than being told what to do or not to do, more so by someone they deem weaker than them. So, against all reason, Nayeon lets Sana fight, takes care of her when she comes home bruised and wounded. It hurts, seeing her lover like this; but the smile Sana gives her when she recounts her fights and brags about her victories, it's enough to soothe her worries.</p>
  <p>Until one day, Sana invites her to the arena and watch her fight. Nayeon didn't want to go. She never left the Colossal Trees, has never set foot in a kingdom's capital, and mostly because she didn't think she could watch Sana get hurt and do nothing about it. She still goes, though.</p>
  <p>Nayeon watched Sana, her pretty and soft and warm Sana, incapacitate gods of all sorts of talents, from all places and origin, in a last-one-standing match. Sana was a blazing fire, power and destruction incarnate. Her fire god fought from noon to dusk, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, bloodied but standing. Nayeon's heart is caught in her throat.</p>
  <p>She was named as the Grand Champion and Sana, her beautiful, lovely Sana, announced that she's retiring, that she would retire to be a fire god instructor instead.</p>
  <p>They were at home, in their bed, with Nayeon straddling Sana's hips and breaking their kiss to ask about her decision.</p>
  <p>Sana pulls her down and kisses her again before she answers, "in this house that we built, I want to start a family with you, and I can't do that if I remain to be a fighter. I know I make you worry when I go into the arena."</p>
  <p>The love she feels for the fire god, in this exact moment, swells and threatens to drown her. Sana wipes her tears away before Nayeon even realizes she was crying — she mouths a breathless whimper of Sana's name in their kiss. And when Sana traces her lips on her skin and marks her, Nayeon comes undone.</p>
  <p>"I love you, Nayeon."</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>After retiring, Sana had formed a routine that she liked: she wakes up either in the arms of Nayeon or her arms around Nayeon; she stretches and practices in the clearing until Nayeon wakes up and they eat breakfast; she gets her good morning and see you later kisses from Nayeon before she goes to the kingdom; she misses Nayeon and thinks of her while she's working; during her break, she goes around the marketplace in search for a trinket she could give Nayeon; by the time she gets home, Nayeon would be out hunting with the elves and so she would get cleaned up while waiting; she would greet Nayeon in their front door by sundown, they make dinner and eat and talk about their day and clean the dishes; then she carries Nayeon to their bed. Sometimes, Nayeon joins her morning practice to spar, visits her during work, or Sana looks for Nayeon and joins hunting with the elves.</p>
  <p>The other gods tease her most of the time, throw mindless remarks that Nayeon had domesticated her — and Sana hates to admit it, that it makes her seethe and her blood boils with unrestrained anger, because Nayeon wouldn't want her to get into a fight. She would never deny it though, Nayeon really did tame her. The earth god molded Sana's world to her shape and Sana let her.</p>
  <p>In this wooden house that they built, as simple as it was, Sana was content. The world could melt away and die but so long as she had this with Nayeon by her side, she couldn't care less. Nayeon is everything.</p>
  <p>It was this arrogance that ultimately led to her downfall.</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Three. Everything shall burn, everyone shall die</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>What does a family consist of?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Considering everything, the time they have been together, Sana can't say that Nayeon was taken from her too soon.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>In the Age of the Gods, everything lives longer: gods, elves, dragons, they live for thousands of years that they are considered immortal.</p>
  <p>(Unless they get killed, like Nayeon.)</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>They will be celebrating their first quarter of a millennium in just a few months and Sana is beyond excited. Everything with Nayeon is exciting. The world, though, is anything but a paradise that she had come to associate with their house. Some gods have decided that they could rule better than the current king. Unrest and chaos have been normal in the kingdom now. Sana still comes to teach once a week, the other days she spends with Nayeon exploring the forest.</p>
  <p>When the king abdicated his rule out of fear of getting assassinated, that was when all hell broke loose. Gods have resorted to killing each other in a bid of being the next king. Sana hasn't stepped foot in the kingdom for weeks now. She's not worried, she knows she could easily win any fight they throw her way. Besides, staying with Nayeon is infinitely better. Still, the fire in her veins wants to join in the chaos, and every day, she had to resist the temptation.</p>
  <p>Sana knows that Nayeon is scared. Most of the world is and the remaining few who aren't, are the ones causing fear to run rampant. So, the fire god makes every reason she could come up with to not let her wife out of sight. It makes Nayeon feel safe. She is aware that the earth god knows the real reason and at this point, she's just doing it to make her laugh.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>"Sana?" Nayeon's voice was barely a whisper. It was midnight, Sana has an arm around Nayeon's bare chest and her other hand playing with Nayeon's fingers.</p>
  <p>"Love, can I be honest with you?"</p>
  <p>"Should I be scared?" Sana answers jokingly, tightening her hold on Nayeon.</p>
  <p>"It depends, but I know you would be okay."</p>
  <p>The fire god brings Nayeon's hand to her lips and kisses the back of it.</p>
  <p>"A child," the earth god says, "I dreamt that we raised a child, love. You told me, so many decades ago, that you want to start a family with me, in this house." Nayeon turns around in Sana's arms to face her, kisses her softly. And Sana remembers how to breathe.</p>
  <p>"You raised a child? With me?" Sana can't help but repeat Nayeon's words, because it feels unreal. For over two hundred years, family only consisted of herself and Nayeon. Child-rearing for the gods is never as important as it was for humans. They have millennia ahead of them and children usually happen when they're over a thousand years. And so, for Nayeon to have thoughts about raising a child with her, it made Sana overcome with desire and happiness like no other.</p>
  <p>Nayeon pushes her back, straddles her hips, cups her face, and kisses her, longer this time, with a smile shaping her lips, "yes, a daughter, love. We raised a daughter. She's an air god."</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Before Sana was blasted out of the arena by some air gods, woke up laying down on a dinner table, saw a beautiful woman sleeping contentedly and snoring in a warm and soft-looking bed; she was as normal as a fire god can be. A little bit more on the war and chaos mongering side maybe, but it was nothing unusual for her kind. Still, fire <em>can</em> be kind and offer warmth. Sana has that side, too. Reserved only for Nayeon.</p>
  <p>However, Sana is and will forever be, fire in the flesh. The world will come to know it and <em>will</em> submit to it.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>The former king sent a messenger to their place a few days after they talked about raising a child, asking her to visit him and his family. Sana was reluctant to go, she knows he will try to employ her as a guardian and there just isn't a polite way to refuse his offer. She also doesn't want to leave Nayeon alone. But the earth god assured her that she'll stay home and be safe. So, she went to visit him, she really can't deny her wife anything.</p>
  <p>Sana came home to a burning house and a dying Nayeon.</p>
  <p>She extinguished the fire with a wave of her arms and carried Nayeon to their bed, laid her down and let her fire bleed through her fingertips. The fire god explored their half burnt house one last time, traced her fingers in every wall, every furniture — committing them to memory.</p>
  <p>Sana watched her fire consume their house and everything and Nayeon in it.</p>
  <p>She wouldn't let it spread to the forest though, so she waited until everything became ashes, until the sun went down.</p>
  <p>Once she finished making sure it wouldn't spread, she let fire consume her and her grief — anger coats her veins and she swears to the night sky, retribution would not be swift nor would it be painless.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Sana tracked the water gods camping just outside the forest, there are three of them, all men. Sana creates three snakes using her fire and lets them slither inside their mouths; she watches them writhe in pain, throat and lungs burning, unable to scream.</p>
  <p>When the sun peeked out of the horizon, Sana— despite feeling lost and aimless— had decided to wage war against all gods. Punish them all for their sins and their silly war. It has only been a hundred or so years since she retired in arena fighting and they have all forgotten about who truly is the strongest. She'll make sure every god, elf, dragon, <em>human</em> know that she and she alone can light the world on fire.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>It took almost a hundred years, the last god was good at hiding and made her spend years tracking him down. When it was finished, she visited the elves in the Colossal Trees. Along with the dragons, they have grown and expanded their territories now that the gods have perished. Sana passes to them the responsibility of guiding the humans and tells them that she will help only if she had to, that she deserves a long, peaceful sleep.</p>
  <p>Keil, their current King, offered his palace to her; she refused, saying that she still had to visit the dragons to tell them their new duties.</p>
  <p>Sana knows she's fooling herself. Keil reminds her of hunts with Nayeon, the children remind her of days spent playing with them, these elves shaped Nayeon's life as she had shaped theirs. She can see shadows of Nayeon in them, in their way of living, their behavior. When Sana lost her wife and friend, this forest's elves also lost a friend, a sister, a family member. She knows she reminds them of Nayeon, too.</p>
  <p>The dragons live in a sprawling mountain range overlooking the east ocean, below them is a kingdom of humans they actively interact with and protect. Sana's visit only consisted of her giving a summarized version of the war, her rules as the remaining god, and the dragons' duty as guardians. The dragons fear her — the fire god who remade the world and its laws — she can feel it in the air. She decides to spare them of further misery and flies out after her speech and their questions.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Sana discovers an island at the edge of the world, uninhabited, with a thick forest stretching inwards, full with gentle creatures. Nayeon would have loved it. And so, as the remaining god of the world, she makes a rule for this island: only those worthy and non-human can wash up to its shores and stay. Humans are too alike with them, the gods, and thus, highly likely to do stupid things, like waging a war against their own.</p>
  <p>Sana builds a cabin in the heart of the island and goes to sleep — hoping that when she wakes up, Nayeon would be alive again, and ready to be found.</p>
  <p>She wasn't expecting that her wife would make her wait a long, long time.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p> </p>
  <p> </p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Four. The life after death</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Mina's devotion.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It has been three hundred years since the last god was seen, and humanity, with their short lives and poor memories, has forgotten them. The world now is gentler — there is no discrimination against the weak for they have learned that weak or strong, they all have a part to play; this was the teaching of the elves. The dragons inspired humans to be ambitious which led to inventions that developed their way of living. Houses were built to stand longer and stronger; glassware and metalwork became common, forges are run not only to make weapons but for their daily needs as well.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>Mina loves the humans. They are weak. Their flesh soft and fragile — she could poke them with her toe and they would die, cut them open and they will bleed to death. Show them the difference in power and fear will break their minds. And yet they still live, still persists, too stubborn to give in to the sweet embrace of death. These things are what make them interesting.</p>
  <p>But also because Mina could relate to them. Like humans, dragons are weak against the ultimate god, whose fire could melt their scales, who could use the sparks burning in their chests to melt their organs and burn them inside out. Mina, too, is afraid. She had never been able to shake the trembling of her flesh ever since the fire god called upon them centuries ago.</p>
  <p>She was still a child, then, only a hundred years old. When she saw the ruler of the world, so beautiful and <em>divine</em> with unrelenting heat emitting from her skin like a furnace unable to stop burning, voice loud and clear, piercing eyes and blood-red pupils. Mina has never seen someone so ethereal. Like the god's very presence is enough to consume her, body and soul. It pulls her.</p>
  <p>Dragons are proud and arrogant creatures, they respect authority and value absolute obedience.</p>
  <p>The fire god is ultimate and supreme, power and destruction, undefeated. The rightful ruler. Mina fears her and loves her.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Dragons, for all intents and purposes, are nature's offspring. And so, like a tired child seeking their mother's embrace, they return to the earth once they die. The elders have been guiding the humans for half of their lives. The weariness had started eating at them — the nature's call for its children is getting louder and more tempting.</p>
  <p>It is now Mina's generation to guide the humans. Mina can't hide her palpable excitement; finally, she can observe and interact with the creatures that intrigue her the most.</p>
  <p>The elder dragons noticed, and worried, that the night before they leave, they told the dragons they are be leaving behind, "Don't love the humans too much. Even with our guidance and the elves', they remain to be foolish creatures."</p>
  <p>Mina can't help but feel it's directed to her. No matter though, by the time the sun rises, she is free to do what she wants.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Mina successfully convinces her kin to descend on the human kingdoms to spread their wisdom. It was as if development and invention raced the sun as it rises and falls — it was as if there was something new every day. The humans evolved at such a fast pace that they passed their guardians' strides. Both guardians have seen it, their guidance is no longer necessary.</p>
  <p>The elves started concealing their palaces and the dragons stayed in their cliffs and mountains. It's apparent that the humans have grown and pulled away from them. No more leaders needing their wisdom and advice; no more ambitious inventors looking for inspiration.</p>
  <p>They have decided to rest and let the humans lead themselves; the elves ascended to the heavens to become stars; the dragons went back to their elders, and; the humans were left to their own devices after lifetimes and lifetimes of someone looking out for them.</p>
  <p>Mina remembers the fire god who hasn't been seen for almost a millennium. Mina wants to see her again, to ask her if they did a good job. If she did the right thing. Of coming to the humans instead of waiting for them. Mina needs the fire god to praise her or punish her.</p>
  <p>She convinces her kin that she would watch over them before sleeping. That she wants to fly freely first, stretch her wings and roam the world for the last time.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Mina spends a week in this place, her home, and now her kind's final resting place. The earth had reclaimed the dragons' bodies and with it, came to be an extension of the forest.</p>
  <p>"I'm sorry I'm not yet ready to go with you," Mina whispers to the wind, and with a last look, takes off to the skies.</p>
  <p>With the beat of her wings and the sun peeking over the horizon, the last dragon starts her march to search for the true master of the world.</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Five. Still, it's a beginning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Is it the beginning of the end?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mina doesn't know where to start. All she has to rely on is her instinct — a gut-feeling that the fire god is still out here, in this mortal world. She thinks of an island, maybe, where there are no people who could disturb the god from her rest. She makes it as her starting point. She flies tirelessly, in search of inhabited islands.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>The ocean stretches below her, infinite and unending. Even if the islands that dot it are too far from civilization, there were still humans living in it and no sign of a slumbering supreme being. Still, Mina continues. She doesn't stay in one place for too long. It also comes as a surprise for her, when she realizes that she hasn't <em>really</em> interacted with a human or observed them, despite meeting them in between her journey.</p>
  <p>So, when she decided to rest and visit a small city to ask for stories or legends of a god, it was to her surprise that the world is short of destroying itself. The houses and shops are burning, the air is thick with smoke and it stinks of blood, there are screaming and wailing everywhere, broken bodies are strewn in the streets. Mina spots a woman cradling a dead man in her lap, weeping silently, and learns that bandits have raided the place.</p>
  <p>Mina, in all her years, has never seen such cruelty in the hands of humans. She's lost and confused. These creatures she loved dearly, she remembered them as gentle and fragile beings, who couldn't even hope to lift a finger against her kind or the elves and lived to tell the tale. These weak humans, subservient in default, committed such atrocity against their own kin. Mina feels rage and hopelessness course in her veins. She has never killed a human before, even when she was born in a world where one must fight to survive. But on this day, Mina kills every bandit she meets.</p>
  <p>Hours later, when the fire has died down and no single bandit is left alive, Mina finds herself surrounded by the people expressing their gratitude. It is then the sound of hooves pounding on the pavement is heard, shouts of men pierce the air, and the people gasps, "It's the king."</p>
  <p>They kneel and bow their heads to the man astride a beautiful horse. Mina, of course, is left standing. She will never bow to anyone besides her fire god.</p>
  <p>"Kneel, peasant, or your head will fly," a man orders her.</p>
  <p>Mina had a long, tiring day, and the gall of this puny human makes her laugh, so she does.</p>
  <p>They take offense to it and the men behind the supposed king dismount their horses, rattles their swords, and goes into formation.</p>
  <p>"I am tired, human. Do not test me." Mina allows her human body to take her draconic features; she blinks and her eyes glow golden-brown, her skin takes the shine of her scales under the sun, and her nails grow thick and sharp like her claws. But before she could fully scare the soldiers, the woman from before interrupts her.</p>
  <p>"She saved us, Your Majesty. She— She defended us and protected us, Lord."</p>
  <p>After that, though, was a whirlwind of activities that Mina was too tired to process. She's still reeling about what she saw and experienced. When the king invited her to dinner, Mina accepted and allowed him an opportunity to thank her and apologize for his soldiers' actions. Because Mina, despite witnessing humans at their worst, still loves them.</p>
  <p>For a dinner with a king, the food was simple and just enough for the two of them. He repeats his pleasantries and introduces himself as King Naveen of the Northern Mountain, to which Mina only hums in acknowledgment. The man is fidgeting in his seat until he couldn't bear the silence any longer and clears his throat.</p>
  <p>"I've heard of stories about the Dragon Age, good Sir. That they have left and forsaken us, the stories say. Are you one of them, Sir?</p>
  <p>"This world does not belong to you or to me and my kind." Mina starts, her voice echoing off the walls of the room. "We've entrusted this world to you. To care for it as if it's your mother. And yet, it stinks. It's ugly and sick. When the god wakes up and sees her world like this, what do you think will happen, human? Do you think she won't burn us all, spare us for violating the nature? Her lover's sanctuary?" Her grip tightens and bends the metal spoon in her hands.</p>
  <p>"This is my <em>gift </em>to her, a beautiful and prosperous world, developed kingdoms and vibrant nature. What happened in the years I was away, human king Naveen of the Northern Mountain." Mina says his title with as much mockery and bitterness in her tongue.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>It started off small, like all things do — a simple robbery; a robbery gone wrong that resulted in an injury, that became two, three; an accidental death, an <em>intentional</em> death; a murder that became serial killings. Everyone has started stealing from each other, pushing someone down to be elevated in life. Kings have become paranoid. They have forgotten their task of protecting their land and people; all they could think about were territories and their treasures, threats and how to win wars.</p>
  <p>There were no more wise elves or mighty dragons; no preserver of the forests and mountains and oceans. The earth is starting to get sick and the humans were too busy fighting against themselves. The humans have run themselves dry, they took and took, without giving back to nature. They have abused their resources and now they are starving, their kids are malnourished and weak, infants are abandoned and sold away. They have developed, yes, but regressed in their humanity, in what makes them human.</p>
  <p>This is the world Momo is born into. A rotting, cruel world, where children are sold for food or to pay off debts. Momo was one such kid.</p>
  <p>"Stay here," her mother had said, leaving her in a narrow alley. Hours passed with no sight of her mother and deep down, Momo knew she was abandoned. Hunger has been a persistent pain she has learned to ignore and every place, every street, reeks of piss and garbage.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Momo has learned how to beg. She gets leftover sometimes, but mostly she's met with contempt and hard, calloused hands shoving her away. Until one day, she saw a woman dressed in dark, expensive clothes pass by, gathering the attention of all the people in the market — including a group of men who have started trailing the woman.</p>
  <p>Momo didn't know what possessed her to do what she did and whether it was worth getting beaten within the inch of her life; she follows the woman and tugs the sleeves of her dress, "Lady, spare coins, please. To buy food."</p>
  <p>But thinking back, Momo believes it <em>was </em>worth it. The woman tagged her along to the center of the market and ordered food for the two of them, bought her a new set of clothes, let her shower and spend the night in the room the woman was staying in. The woman barely spoke throughout the day and Momo has taken into calling her the Silent Lady in her head. In the morning, Momo took the leftover bread from breakfast while the Lady was showering and went back to the alley she has stayed in. She was going to give the food to the other beggars there.</p>
  <p>The group of men from the day before was there. They were seething with rage, angry with the child who took away their target. When Momo came to, it was dark and she was laying on a soft material. Her whole body hurts and she can't open her left eye, her right arm is on a cast, and there's a constant stinging in her left rib. Momo feels bile rise to her throat, she feels cheated by life, and there are tears of frustration clouding her good eye. She wonders what kind of cruel god has let her survive getting beaten. Everything just hurts.</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Six. All my paths have led me to you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>For every choice Momo has made, it was with the thought of you.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Momo drifted in and out of consciousness for a few days after she first woke up. Apparently, the founder of this orphanage is the Silent Lady and she has brought Momo here. When she asked about their benefactor, the older staff said she has already left and that she rarely stays long during her visits.</p><p></p><div>
  <p></p>
  <div>
    <p>It took Momo a while to warm up to the other kids and the adults but as time went on, she has found in them a warm family that cares for her and loves her as if they were of the same blood. As she was one of the older children, she has learned how to help around the house, look after the younger ones, and get in the trades their benefactor has taught them. They live a simple life, barely making ends meet; but they have a roof over their heads, food in their table, clean clothes, and they have each other.</p>
    <p>Momo has grown to love this makeshift family. The outside world, though, has not progressed to be better. With every day that passes, it grows worse until it reaches its peak — that was what they had believed at that time, not knowing that something far worse was looming on the horizon — a three-way war has erupted over their neighboring kingdoms. Their country was not directly involved but being so close to the warring kingdoms, they were still affected. Even so, they grit their teeth and persisted. Momo has not seen their patron for five years by then.</p>
    <p>In the midst of this three-way war, rumors of a great northern power have started running in taverns and markets. Sometimes, people whisper that this king is their savior; but other times, they say his sole purpose is plunging the world into chaos. Momo did not pay heed to them, more focused on being able to put enough food for the table. But when stragglers and villagers came pouring in and passing by their village, wounded and lost, begging for food and water, crying about the wicked Northern King, a voice in the back of her head tells her that she should have paid attention.</p>
    <p>-</p>
    <p>There was no drawn-out invasion or a prolonged war; the battle was over in an instant that it may not even be called a battle. In one year, half of the world has bowed down, heads of kings started rolling one after another, thick castle walls crumbled, and their banners replaced by the Northern King's — the King of Despair's coat of arms in a mocking pure white banner.</p>
    <p>If Momo has to bury one more body from the orphanage, she thinks she will lose it. Their food is no longer enough for them but she knows that everyone thinks that their stored food will be enough if they just bury one more, then another, and another, until there are only a few of them remaining. The thought and the relief it gives her starving mind makes her sick.</p>
    <p>Everyone around her has lost hope and the will to fight — how could they even begin to hope for a better future when the King commands half of the world's armies; when he has tamed beasts on his flanks; when he has the Dragon Witch as his advisor? But there are whispers of a growing resistance that aims to dethrone the king, rumors passed from merchants, fishers, and farmers. The free kingdoms down south call for arms, men and women, children and adult, <em>anyone</em>; they say it's for glory, hope, and the future; but everyone knows, deep down, that these kings are no better — they are asking for bodies to throw against the King of Despair, to swell their numbers so much that they could overwhelm his army. Still, many answered their call.</p>
    <p>Momo did, too. The second she saw her sponsor's defiant eyes, telling them to not give up, she was already scraping up the remaining energy and bravery she had in her.</p>
    <p>-</p>
    <p>Training was hard, Momo couldn't keep count on how many times she thought she was going to die out of exhaustion. But those times were nothing compared to the first time she got deployed to a skirmish. Death was closer, surrounded her, choked her; it was real and Momo was terrified. Her comrades' cries follow her, their ghosts chase her in her dreams. Killing was easy, though, simple as slashing her sword and poking with her spear and firing an arrow; their enemies were just that, bags of flesh to stab and cut. She doesn't dream of it.</p>
    <p>All things considered, Momo thinks she's lucky — she never really thought she'd pass the age of 20, especially when she joined the army, but now she's 25, stronger than ever and healthier. She never accepted any chances to move up the army, too content being a foot soldier and too afraid to bear responsibility for decisions that affect the lives of her fellow soldiers. The Resistance has been mostly successful in their battles and the last battle in the enemy's stronghold is upon them.</p>
    <p>They have laid siege in the city below the Northern Mountain and was able to occupy it in a week; now they're marching towards the palace — the final battle, the end of the line. Momo doesn't hope to come out alive, she's more than willing to die for the cause and also because she has nowhere to go, and no one to come home to. Most of her friends, brothers, and sisters from the orphanage have already died in battle while a few of them scattered in the front lines. Momo had enough of shoveling dirt over dead bodies. She'd rather be the dead body the army buries.</p>
    <p>Their orders are simple: kill the enemy troops, leave none alive; if you see the King of Despair, engage him and wound him as much as possible until your dying breath; don't let the Dragon Witch talk for her words have the power to seduce you, kill her.</p>
    <p>The ten grueling years of training and going into battle did not prepare Momo for what transpired when she arrived in the throne room. Her fellow soldiers have split up once they reached the palace, going through rooms and rooms in search of the king and his advisor. Momo just happened to see an empty hallway and followed it, not knowing that it leads to the one person she never thought she'd see here.</p>
    <p>It was like she was under the water, the sounds echo and barely make sense, her surroundings are blurry and out of shape. Momo is a soldier who has spent more than a third of her life following orders without question. But even if she wasn't one, there's the startling realization that she will follow whatever her benefactor tells her to do. So, when her Silent Lady begged her to believe her, Momo did; when she asked her help to carry the weight of her sins, Momo accepted becoming the savior of the world; and when she told her to behead the man looking exhausted and smiling at her with sadness in his eyes, Momo picked up her sword and swung.</p>
    <p>-</p>
    <p>The next day of their victory was spent cleaning the battlefield and burying their dead. It didn't feel like a victory, not when so many of them have lost their lives. Momo didn't feel victorious, not when she buried the youngest kid in their orphanage; the kid was barely 14 and he's already under the ground.</p>
    <p>When they arrived back at the capital, she was named as the One True King. She was then subjected to hours and hours of lessons in politics and economics. She feels the weariness seeping in her bones. The look of awe people give her when she passes, the expectation of her to smile at them; it makes her sick. So many have died for this. Momo wants to condemn her — the beautiful and kind Silent Lady who fed her, clothed her, and gave her a roof — but she can't; because at the end of the day, after all of the stages made, two things are loud and clear in her heart: one, Momo loves her and two, Momo knows what she did was made with the best interest of humanity in mind.</p>
    <p>Her Silent Lady, the Dragon Witch, who lives in her mind and heart, who has been staying in her king's chambers.</p>
    <p>The sight that greets her after a meeting with her advisors is one that she's used to — her benefactor wearing Momo's old tunic, staring longingly outside the windows.</p>
    <p>"My King," she says lowly, turning around to face Momo, an indecipherable yet determined look on her face, "my name is Mina. I am the last dragon in this world."</p>
  </div>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>In celebration of this fic reaching 1k hits, leave me a prompt for this universe and I'll see what I can do. Thank you for reading this super self-indulgent fic. Please love and support TWICE's More &amp; More album! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Seven. Chaos breeds peace</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ambulance noises.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Momo is a good king — kind-hearted, emphatic, reasonable; she has her moments of insecurity and self-doubt, often taking a while in making decisions, but the welfare of her citizens has always been her first and only priority. It pacifies Mina's agitated mind. She doesn't regret her and Naveen's decision to uproot the rotten parts of the world; but seeing Momo's sunken eyes, it makes Mina feel bad about dragging her towards this path. Just a little. Because Momo <em>is</em> a good king. And the world being in good hands far outweighs any remorse she might have. This is for the best. Besides, if the fire god did wake up to see the humans fumbling and ruining her lover's sanctuary, she would have punished all of them anyway. So, really, Mina did the right thing.</p><p>This is the music her mind wakes her up to and falls asleep with.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>They were awkward, at first, not knowing how to move around and share the king's chambers; to the point where Momo slept on the reclining couch while Mina took the bed; although sometimes Momo ends up sleeping in her en-suite study, waking up with a sore back and stiff neck, but never cold, because Mina never fails to cover her with the blankets. It was how they got closer, Momo slowly opening her eyes to the view of Mina securing the blankets over her shoulders — the combination of the orange glow of the candle lights, the subtle pink creeping up Mina's cheeks, and Momo's exhausted and sleep-drunk mind made her mouth disconnect to her brain and give her a loose tongue, "You are so beautiful, Lady Mina."</p><p>Mina feels her face heating up and she can't help the wide smile tugging her lips, "And you're not in your right mind, my King."</p><p>Momo sits up properly, lets the blankets pool on her chair, searches for Mina's hand, and holds it tentatively, loosely, "I'm exhausted." <em>'Of all this.'</em> remains unsaid, but they both heard it echoing in the space they occupy.</p><p>She doesn't pull her hand away, instead, she turns her hand palm up, and holds the human's hand, "Then rest. Come to bed. I'll take the couch."</p><p>"I'll take the—"</p><p>"No."</p><p>"But—"</p><p>Mina just sighs and leads her to the bedroom. Momo is <em>too</em> kind. There's no selfish bone in her body, always putting her citizen's interest first, prioritizes Mina's comfort and needs before she could even voice them out — more attuned to Mina's well-being than her own.</p><p>"I owe you my life, my Lady," Momo says, suddenly quiet and solemn, like a penitent seeking for redemption. Mina is reminded of the human's sacrifices for her sake, how she takes care of her even when Mina deserves her hatred and anger.</p><p>Everything that Momo does and says, they remind Mina of her pride and arrogance as a dragon, something that she's slowly forgetting with every day that she stays in her human form. Her instincts scream at her to repay the favor, to bestow a reward and a blessing to Momo, to even the scales.</p><p>"You're the sole reason that the plan was successful." Mina pulls her closer and breathes deeply, "You, Momo, made it happen. You don't owe me anything, it's the other way around."</p><p>And so she does.</p><p>Mina walks them towards the bed until Momo falls down and she climbs on her lap, straddling her waist; her movements are stiff, mechanical, like they were practiced beforehand. "So, take from me." Mina leans down and whispers, "I know you want to, my King."</p><p>Momo's hand holding her waist while the other settles on her lap and that's when she knows she's right — Mina used her, took advantage of her. She was never going to regret what she did, she will do everything to protect this world for the fire god, but she regrets stringing the girl along. She dragged Momo into this mess and she will make it right. If Momo wants her, then, she will have her.</p><p>Momo cups her face, knocks her forehead against Mina's, and confesses, "I will do everything for you."</p><p>Momo closes her eyes and gives her this heartbreaking and charming smile. Mina has only ever been attracted once in her entire life, only for the absent fire god who has made a residence in her heart and mind; but right now, with Momo looking so subservient and smug underneath her, the emotion Mina has saved only for the god comes back with a vengeance.</p><p>"Command me, tell me what to do. Ask of me again and I will fulfill it. I'm your loyal soldier until the end of time."</p><p>And Mina feels silly, she doesn’t know whether to be offended or disappointed. Or charmed and grow fonder of this human. It was not a rejection of what she was offering but a denial of her pride. She sits upright — Momo's hands falling to rest on her hips — and stares at her, long and hard. Momo meets her stare with a question in her eyes. There's a part in Mina that finds it adorable.</p><p>"Alright, I order you to sleep in this bed, then."</p><p>Momo juts her bottom lip out, like a sulking child, and whines, "That's really unfair, don't you think so, my Lady?"</p><p>"You gave me the reins, <em>my King</em>." She can't help the smug smirk from gracing her face, especially when a beautiful flush creeps up from under Momo's tunic.</p><p>"How about," Momo trails off, tilting her head to the side, averting her gaze, "sharing the bed with me? My conscience will never let me rest if you had to sleep on the couch."</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Sharing the king's bed has become a nightly occurrence — something that Mina has come to look forward to and enjoy. Humans are soft and warm, they remind her of gentle fires that give light and warmth. And waking up to Momo's arm slung across her midsection, her breath washing over her nape, is <em>nice.</em></p><p>Mina climbs out of bed before the sun rises, so she could walk in the dim courtyard or the town proper, fix herself a breakfast, and if she feels generous enough, bring the king breakfast in bed.</p><p>They don't talk about it, just went along and accepted their new dynamic. It opened a lot of possibilities between them; Mina becomes a close confidante and adviser for the king, while Momo becomes the human friend she had always longed for.</p><p>The guilt Mina has continuously agonized for subsides with every day she spends with Momo and every time Momo looks at her with so much devotion and love.</p><p>Mina learns how to love, not out of respect of power and fear and authority like how she loves the fire god, but out of freely given affection and care and gentleness towards her. If Mina was to put her love into words, her love for the fire god is like a blow to the gut, hard and knocks her breath away, then the love she has for Momo is a gentle palm cradling and rubbing her back after the blow, soothing and healing.</p><p>Mina loves Momo, the abandoned child she fed and clothed, the soldier she crowned to be king; <em>her</em> Momo, brave and loyal, who loves her just as much, who touches her and knows her flaws and sins and still sees her and forgives her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Eight. The life of the King</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Momo as THE King.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Although half of the world's golds and treasures are sitting inside the King of Despair's palace in the Northern Mountain, Momo still considers her life as King to be luxurious — she has the whole palace to call her home; she eats three meals a day and if she wanted, she could have the kitchen send her food; she has servants and soldiers at her beck and call, although she tries not to give them tasks that she could do herself, much to their chagrin. All in all, her life is easy. Of course notwithstanding the fact that hundreds of thousands of people look up to her and rely on her — something that, at her lowest, she considers more of a burden, a <em>punishment,</em> than an honorable responsibility. But ever since she grew closer with Mina, she rarely finds herself thinking about it. Not when Mina smiles freely, her steps light, shoulders relaxed. Not when Mina looks at her with love in her eyes, holds her when the ghosts of the war haunt her dreams and most times for no reason other than to feel her skin.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>Momo will do everything for her Silent Lady, benefactor, Dragon Witch, <em>friend</em>.</p>
  <p>In her fourth year as king, the world has settled down, peaceful, and harmonious. The scars of the Gold War will never truly fade, nor the terror cultivated by the King of Despair and Dragon Witch will be forgotten, but humanity is moving forward. Momo has abolished most of the nobility and their power over the peasantry; there are no more slaves and abandoned or sold children living as beggars in the streets; orphanages looked more like a house than a dilapidated shack, with most of them funded by the crown; dungeons are emptied when the war prisoners were freed and given chances to lead a better life.</p>
  <p>Momo is a good king. And unmarried. The people no longer worry about life and death and have now turned their focus on their King's personal life. Her advisors are subtly dropping hints, even as forward as giving her a list of <em>prospects.</em> Momo doesn't know what to do. She's free to marry whoever she wants but knows the uproar of marrying Mina will cause. Momo couldn't ask Mina to live under a different name, knowing it will be the same as rejecting Mina in her entirety as a dragon and as a person.</p>
  <p>She would rather fall on her sword and she says as much that night, when Mina joined her in bed after her nightly walks. Mina didn't argue or say anything at all — just crawls on top of Momo and captures her lips in a heady kiss, robbing her of reason and air, lips and tongue and teeth heavy with gratitude and appreciation. Momo tastes goodbye in Mina's actions, aware that this night will probably be their last, answers Mina's desperation with her own. Rough hands and mouth, purposely leaving marks, hoping they could tattoo their love in their skin. They welcome the sun rising with gasps of breath and whispers of each other's name.</p>
  <p>Later that day, Momo gives her assent to her advisors.</p>
  <p>At night, she finds herself completely entangled with Mina's limbs on top of their unmade bed, Mina pressing light kisses on her hair and murmurs, "When I go, will you forget about me?"</p>
  <p>"I couldn't, even if I wanted to," Momo takes Mina's hand to her lips, "will you?"</p>
  <p>"Never."</p>
  <p>They fall to another comfortable silence until Mina settles properly behind Momo, pulling her flush against her, and barely snaps Momo awake. Enough for her to remember the question she was afraid to ask. Momo knows they could not continue seeing each other, that this bedroom will no longer be theirs, but for Momo and her future spouse. Mina couldn't stay in this kingdom, not when she would risk getting identified by the soldiers that saw her face.</p>
  <p>"Where will you go?"</p>
  <p>"I think I'll go home for a while," Mina says after a few minutes, "To the mountain range I've told you before. Where my friends are sleeping. Do you think they'll be angry at me for not visiting sooner?"</p>
  <p>Momo chokes back a sob, "I think they'd understand, my Lady."</p>
  <p>"I wanted you to meet them. They will love you, I'm sure of it."</p>
  <p>Momo turns around in Mina's embrace, burrows her face in the crook of Mina's neck.</p>
  <p>"At first, I loved you because of what you did for me." Mina tightens her hold on Momo, "But now I love you because of everything else. I dream of a forever with you, Momo."</p>
  <p>"I dream of it, too." Momo whimpers against Mina's skin. She's soaking through Mina's tunic with her tears. But it's far from her mind, the indescribable pain she's feeling taking all of her attention.</p>
  <p>"Maybe in your next life," Mina says, her voice tight.</p>
  <p>And it feels like a promise.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Momo starts meeting with the prospective suitors her advisors suggested, perfectly aware that no one will ever measure up to Mina, but willing to open a corner of her heart for someone. These suitors came from all over the world, chosen solely on whether they could take care of their King and lighten her duties — men and women alike, all caring and gentle and quiet, reminding her of who she let go of. Momo sees a shadow of Mina in them and ends up disappointing herself because she couldn't stop searching for a glimpse of <em>her</em> Mina. Caring and gentle but passionate, quiet but intense. They couldn't compare.</p>
  <p>The second Momo laid her eyes upon her, she instantly <em>knew.</em> This person will not settle for a corner of Momo's heart. She will lay claim to Momo's whole world and will not accept anything less.</p>
  <p>Momo finds her Queen in the woman with a heart-shaped smile.</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Nine. An endless road to rediscover</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Is it Nayeon's second life? How do you measure a god's life?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nayeon can't remember anything — her past, how she came to be, if she had a family. Nothing. Nayeon remembers nothing. What she knows, though, is that she's been alive for a long, long, long time. Not in the way that she can't die, but in the way that she's aware that she has lived before, multiple times, then died, again. How many lifetimes has it been?</p><p></p><div>
  <p>In this life, Nayeon was a daughter of a high ranking officer in the Resistance and a researcher of herbal medicines. Nayeon took after her mother and studied under her before branching off to be a doctor's apprentice. Both of them volunteer to join the army. Nayeon sees death and blood and no matter how hard she scrubs, she can still see them clinging to her like a second skin.</p>
  <p>They lose him in the war. Her father dies in the final battle of the Gold War, away from them, his family. It broke them; so, in a way, Nayeon lost her mother as well. Nayeon tried her best in holding the remaining semblance of a family that she has left. She did. But she failed. Her mother leaves her one night, in the house given by the crown as if it would bring her father back, with a simple "I'm sorry" written on paper.</p>
  <p>In the following days, Nayeon fleets through existence. She has felt loneliness from the ghosts of her unfulfilled previous lives but right now, Nayeon feels so lost. There's a voice in the back of her mind telling her that this life would be unlike the rest. That in this life, she will get something to tide her over. But she doesn't know how, or what, or <em>who.</em></p>
  <p>Nayeon's shaken out of her despair with a series of knocks in their (her) front door. They are city guards informing her that they've found her mother's body.</p>
  <p>Not even a year passed since they buried her father, she's already standing over the grave of her mother.</p>
  <p>Nayeon begs the King's advisors to buy the house from her and let her practice medicine. After a week, she receives an invitation from the King herself — an opportunity for her to pitch her idea of going around the villages, to extend care for those that can't visit the doctors in big towns or cities. A half-hour window from the King's busy schedule.</p>
  <p>Nayeon didn't even have to start her prepared speech. The One King spared her a glance after she introduced herself and Nayeon feels the start of irritation and shame flaring up her cheeks. She has never, not once in all of her lives, taken kindly into being ignored. It must have been noticeable, because in the next second, the King gives her an apologetic smile before she lowers her gaze to the document she has been reading. And Nayeon forgives her.</p>
  <p>"My advisors told me you want to establish a clinic?"</p>
  <p>"Yes, My King." Nayeon answers.</p>
  <p>"You can keep the house. I permit you to practice but in one condition." The King looks at Nayeon for a few seconds.</p>
  <p>Nayeon swallows to try to help her suddenly dry throat.</p>
  <p>The King smiles at her, small and teetering to break, "We need more doctors now. I'll back this project myself and get it funded as a project of the crown. You can smoothen out the details with my advisors."</p>
  <p>They even gave her a few apprentices and more funds than she initially asked for.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Even though the existence of her project relied heavily on the personal support of the King, Nayeon has never talked with her again, nor seen her. It wasn't because she was hoping for <em>more,</em> she just wanted to thank her properly. Especially now, with her and her apprentices on their way back home — back to the capital.</p>
  <p>It took her five years, to go to the remote villages of the countries under the One King, to help and teach them about the medicines and treatments she knows. She also learned from them, about their own traditional methods, and their stories — stories that some villages insisted to be legends rather than myths, about gods and dragons and elves and their time in this world.</p>
  <p>Nayeon doesn't want to believe them, being a woman of facts and reason rather than believing in gods and fantastical creatures. Even so, she started having these dreams of life beside a lake, of a world lush with greenery and wildlife. In these dreams, she sees through another person's eyes. She sees herself, smiling and laughing in the arms of this person. The dreams couldn't be farther from being called a nightmare but Nayeon wakes up haunted whenever she has them.</p>
  <p>Nayeon doesn't know if they are memories from a past life or if they are fever-induced delusions about a peaceful and love-filled life she unconsciously craves. Nevertheless, they leave her hollow and lonely.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>-</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Whenever they were able to, Nayeon's team chooses to camp in the woods for a few days, to rest from their travels and survey the area — mapping the herbs that grow there. It's in one so-called Reflecting Woods where Nayeon sees <em>it.</em></p>
  <p>One night, no matter how hard she squeezed her eyes shut, or how she tossed and turned on her blanket, she just couldn't sleep. The moon was full and bright, hanging high up, blanketing the area in its silvery glow, that Nayeon decides to take a walk. Thinking that with the moon so bright, she won't get lost.</p>
  <p>It was fine, at first, the brightness of the moon, giving her a false sense of confidence and security that she ventured a little farther than they've covered during the day. A little bit deeper inside the forest. She was following a trail of small yellow flowers when she arrived at a meadow teeming with flowers of different colors.</p>
  <p>Nayeon feels so much longing that her knees buckle. She's confused as to why she suddenly wants to kiss the dirt.</p>
  <p>A sudden gust of wind passes by, blowing away fireflies, lightning bugs, and flower petals alike. The wind was warm. Despite the night being chilly. Dread runs in Nayeon's veins. Something was wrong; terribly, terribly wrong.</p>
  <p>In the corner of her eyes, a movement catches her attention. A huge lump of brown <em>something</em> shifts, and glints under the moonlight. And breathes — the warm gust of wind settling over the field again.</p>
  <p>Nayeon supposes she should turn back as quietly as she could, seeing that this big reptile has yet to wake up and notice her, and forget this night has ever happened. Continue her simple life as a traveling doctor and researcher, along with her apprentices Dahyun and Chaeyoung. But then the silence of the night was broken with a <em>snort.</em> And then a sneeze.</p>
  <p>And before the realization of how insane and ridiculous everything that has happened in no more than a few minutes, Nayeon is face to face with a very, very, <em>very</em> large reptile. It was probably a dragon, like in those stories she has deemed to be born of the villagers' boredom.</p>
  <p>"Are you a thief?" comes a booming voice.</p>
  <p><em>'It's a fucking speaking dragon'</em>, Nayeon thinks, internally screaming and gaze locked on the rows and rows of sharp teeth.</p>
  <p>The dragon <em>huffs</em> and <em>grumbles,</em> "Too bad for you, little thief, there are no treasures that this dragon is hoarding."</p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It's been a while, oops. 😬</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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